I am looking forward to delivering a presentation at the APRA conference on “Transparency in the Canadian Charity Sector – the T3010 and Beyond” SESSION 2A: Level: General Transparency in the Canadian Charity Sector – the T3010 and Beyond Mark…
I am looking forward to being on a panel for the APRA conference in Toronto on Wednesday. The panel is entitled “Focus on Canada’s Non?Profit Sector – Thriving or Just Surviving?” This going to be quite exciting. DAY 1: WEDNESDAY,…
The ONN recently called for a delay in the implementation of the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“ONCA”) which is currently expected to be brought into force on January 1, 2013. I personally think that we should get on with the…
I will be speaking at the APRA conference on “Transparency in the Canadian Charity Sector – the T3010 and Beyond“ Transparency in the Canadian Charity Sector – the T3010 and Beyond Level: General Interest Presenters: Mark Blumberg, Partner, Blumberg Segal LLP…
The Charities Directorate has released Charities Connection No. 12 – June 2012 newsletter which deal with the charity provisions of the 2012 Federal Budget, Charity Quick View, the Registered Charity Basic Information Sheet and the recent CRA guidance on fundraising.…
Here is the transcript from the Standing Committee on Finance on May 8, 2012. 6 witnesses, lots of questions. I was one of the witnesses. Here is the May 8, 2012 Finance Committee (FINA) committee transcript on charity transparency, tax…
Here are some comments from Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate, relating to the 2011 Federal Budget provisions enhancing transparency for qualified donees (ie. those organizations who can issue official donation receipts). “The first change introduced by Budget…
I presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance today along with 5 other witnesses. There was a lively discussion of transparency, cross border philanthropy, tax incentives and preventing abuse of registered charities. Here is a copy of…
In an article by The Chronicle of Philanthropy by Caroline Preston entitled “Update: IRS Levies Fine on Food for the Hungry Over Drug Valuations” it describes how the US IRS has levied a penalty against a charity that misreported donations…
I will be presenting to the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) on “Transparency in the Canadian Charity Sector – the T3010 and Beyond” on October 10, 2012. https://sites.google.com/site/apracconference/ Transparency in the Canadian Charity Sector – the T3010 and…
The Charities Directorate of the CRA has posted information on the Federal 2012 Budget. “Message from the Director General Budget 2012 – Transparency and Accountability On March 29, 2012, the Minister of Finance presented the 2012 federal budget which…
CRA has posted an FAQ on the Transparency and accountability provisions relating to registered charities in the 2012 budget. “Transparency and accountability 1.What are the new rules for registered charities engaged in political activities? 2.Will charities have to submit more…
The 2012 Federal budget has an important piece on transparency namely “…to ensure that charities are accurately reporting in respect of all the activities in which they engage, the CRA will be granted the authority to suspend the tax-receipting privileges…
Some senators have been complaining about environmental groups outside Canada being involved with public policy and political discussions in Canada. I have written about the disclosure of foreign funding by Canadian charities at “So how much do Canadian charities receive…
ORNGE, for those outside of Ontario, is a Canadian registered charity that runs the air ambulance service in Ontario. Their helicopters are painted orange. It is a charity but largely funded by the Ontario government. ORNGE has been receiving a…
Here is a copy of my submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on Motion 559 dealing with transparency. “Canadians want charitable donations to benefit legitimate charities” Here are some other submissions: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=5340612&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1 You can listen…
There are a couple of interesting websites which allow much easier searching of information from the T3010 databases. One is CharityFocus.ca (discussed at ). Another interesting website is www.opencharity.ca Opencharity.ca allows for visitors to search not only by charity…
Here is an interesting article on transparency in the Chinese charitable sector. “Charities will lose public credibility without transparency,” said one researcher. It is interesting to note that in one scandal involving the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), the…
Charity Central, based in Edmonton, has released a series of resources entitled Road to Accountability to help Canadian charities deal with the issues of accountability and transparency. Here is a description from the their website: “Road to Accountability, a project…
The CBC recently prepared a short segment on the Canadian cancer society. Here are a few comments on the issue. I will update this page over the next few weeks as more information comes to light. CCS SPENDING Here are…
Here is a great quote from Sam Younger, chief executive of the Charity Commission, that Canadian charities should think about. “I hope that, over the course of the next few years, we’ll see charities viewing good governance not as a…
The US organization Charity Navigator is in the process of revamping its rating system of charities to provide more information and weight to the issues of accountability and transparency. Although Charity Navigator does not rate Canadian charities, the issue of…
GuideStar Israel is being beta tested. It will provide a combination of government and NPO information on non-profits in Israel. It is only a beta test but it is an important step forward for donors and those interested in the…
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance asked a number of organizations and individuals to submit one-page submissions on Bill C-470. Here is the Blumberg Segal LLP Submission to Finance on C-470 Here is the text of our submission…